Monday, 20 February 2012

This week at Crafty Cardmakers, we want to see what you can cook up with a recipe devised by DT member, Kim! She wants you to create something using one (preferably stamped) image, two patterned papers and three embellishments one of which must be a heart. So, not too difficult, and lots of scope to put your own 'stamp' on the project. Our sponsor this week is Di's Digi Downloads.

I don't know about you, but I love my Promarkers. They're my first choice when I need to do some colouring - especially if time's at a premium. And for digi stamps they're absolutely invaluable! But, there are some colour ranges where I've struggled to find colours to shade together - especially among the reds, pinks and violets. The normal Letraset descriptions don't help much, I don't think. But, some time after I started collecting Promarkers, they started putting colour codes on them, defining a colour family as well as hue, saturation and luminosity. Now, they're not measures I'm particularly familar with (give me good old hexadecimals any day ...) but I'm a scientist by training and inclination, and numbers are meant to be crunched. So, I set out to categorise my pens, started up a spreadsheet and finally mapped the colours into something I can get my teeth into.

The first project I used after that, is a Ching Chou Kuik image I've used many times before, and this is what I came up with.

Now, my colouring's still not as good as I'd like it to be. (Not an artist! See above!) but it's much better than I've managed with these colours before. I've mainly used colours in the Magenta and Violet sets, with a tiny bit of blue for the bird, and I've added some very pale shades from the Flexmarkers I've recently added to my collection. I've used some paper and card from the Papermania Capsule collection, and cut a mat using the Spellbinder's Fleur de Lis rectangle which is definitely my favourite die at the moment. The flowers were cut using a Marianne Creatables die set, and I've added a sticky gem heart to complete the challenge.

Sunday, 19 February 2012

My daughter, (my youngest, my baby) will be 18 next month. I think I took her brothers turning 18 in my stride, but somehow, this is different. Anyway, I set out to make her a card. She loves pretty things, so I found a Ching Chou Kuik image and coloured it. Then, in my usual fashion went looking for some paper to match. (I know it makes more sense to do it the other way around, butI never seem to do it that way.)

While looking through a paper pad, I found another Ching Chou Kuik image - already coloured - tucked inside. I'd obviously been doing the same thing at some time in the past and then got sidetracked! So, now I've got two images, and no paper to match. So, I did what I probably should have done before then, and searched the various papers I've got on my hard drive. And I found some!

This paper came from a Flower Power CD I bought from Crafty Emma a while ago. It's definitely proved to be a good buy as there are some gorgeous designs on it. But, I wanted a second paper, so I searched again.

This paper was one of a set of freebies from Digital Doodling. The blog doesn't seem to have been updated in a while, which is a pity.

I coloured the image with Promarkers, and hand-wrote the sentiment in Sakura Stardust Pen (and removed the name digitally for blogging purposes) I cut the main image mat with a Spellbinders die in my Wizard, and finished the card with some silk flowers and brads from my stash, and a little silver key brad.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges: Crafter's Circle where the theme is 'to die for',Frosted Designs where they want brads or eyelets (flower centres and key are all brads),Dies to Die for where they want anything goes with a die cut

The other image was actually even easier to find a paper for. I found this in a collection I've downloaded from Crafter's Companion. It's actually a set intended for male cards, but the colours were perfect!

Because the paper's quite 'busy', I contrasted it with some lovely dark brown card, and decorated the edges of the strips using a Martha Stewart border punch. I then added some clear sticky gems to the centre of the punched daisy shapes (not obvious in the photo.) Again, the image was coloured with Promarkers.

This week at One Stitch at a Time, our theme is 'Digi or Don't', or, use a digi or don't use an image! We're sponsored this week by Joanna Sheen - she's got so many wonderful things on her site, and she doesn't charge for postage!

And there's also a prize available from Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps

The image I chose this week comes from Digi Blessings from Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps, and it's called Daydream Boy.

I coloured the image with Promarkers, and added some glitter detail on the wording and bee wings with a Sakura Stardust pen. The background paper is from the Papermania Capsule collection and the various embellishments are from my stash, and include a couple of paper flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Thursday, 16 February 2012

I've been on a bit of a clothes-buying spree lately, so I've been trying not to spend on crafting goodies, but failing pretty dismally. (I needed the clothes - I'm sick of wearing things that just look done!) Anyway, one of my purchases is a gorgeous stamp from Crafty Individuals which I simply fell in love with. Unfortunately, I didn't have any Kling on or Ez mount, so I had to stick it directly to a rock-a-block and I think that compromised the quality a little. (I've had to order some because when I walked to Hobbycraft today, they'd run out.)

Anyway, undeterred, I stamped the image in Versamark and added some Perfect Pearl.

I've used three colours of Perfect Pearls - a gold, a bronze, and a turquoise, matting the result on some textured bronze card and then on some turquoise. The background was made in a similar fashion, although the stamps here are Hero Arts clear stamps. And all I added to complete the card was some gold ribbon!

I'll have another go at this style of card once I've got some sponge mount on the stamp - I suspect that some of the fine detail will be clearer, although I'm not too unhappy with how it did here.

Sunday, 12 February 2012

I make quite a few cards for one particular colleague (and since she's also a qualified hairdresser, I never pay for a haircut!) This year, she's got three men in her life each with milestone birthdays, so she gave me a list of names and interests, and these were the result. (Each card has a name on it, but I've removed it from the photograph. There's very little chance that any of them will stumble on my blog, but I'd rather keep them anonymous for now.)

This card is for a sports car owning gentleman! I've used one of the images from the La Pashe Big One CD I bought last year. I mainly bought that CD for the male type images, and so far, I'm not disappointed! The car is decoupaged, and mounted on some embossed and sanded Coredinations Black Magic card (embossed using a Sizzix folder). The paper is my own design - meant to imply the chequered flag but softened to match the colours in the image. I cut the mats with a Spellbinders die set.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:Hotshot Crafts where they want 'One for the Boys',Craft Us Crazy where anything goes,Paper Pretties where they want us to add texture (embossed backgrounds)

This one, surprise, surprise, is for a bass guitar player! The image is from Kenny K and it's coloured with Promarkers. The paper is my own, incorporating the colours I used in the image with guitar and bass clef images.

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:Crafty Pad where 'B is for Bass Player'Digi Doodles where they want 'one for the boys',DRS where they want us to make our own background paper,

And finally for a nature lover! I've used one of the Trinitage sets from the La Pashe CD. To make the background paper, I took an area of background from the main image and stretched it!

Since it's Trinitage, it's got a fairly special inside to the card, although I can't think of a way to photograph this style of card that shows it off properly - the angle is impossible to get right!

I finished the card with some Promarker-coloured ribbon threaded through a Spellbinders Borderability die cut.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:CES where they're looking for lots of layers. (Front and inside have three-layer images as well as matting and background papers.)Crafty Ribbon where they want 'one for the boys',Papertake Weekly where anything goes,The Ribbon Carousel where anything goes (with ribbon)

This week at One Stitch at a Time, we've got two sponsors for our 'anything goes' challenge.

who are offering the winner three Promarkers, and

who are offering all the Stitchy Bear images used by the design team this week! So, if you want to see what's included, check out the design team projects for this week.

And don't forget, if you're not lucky enough to win it, you can get all those images and papers free when you spend $7 at the Stitchy Bear shop.

My image this week is from Lil Diva, and it's called Fun in the Jungle and it's available here.

Now, my DT team mate, Hazel, chose this image for both of us, and generally, I think we've got pretty similar taste in images. But, I had some concerns about using this one, as it looked most suitable for a child's card, until I gave it some thought, and so I added a sentiment.

And suddenly, I had a much more general image - perfect for all sorts of cards. That's one of the things I love about digital stamps - it's so easy to add something like that. Use any fonts and sizes you want, and never be constrained by the bits of rubber you happen to own. So, I was all set to make a fairly general card with the image, but then my daughter saw it, and she told me that my younger son (who's twenty later this month) would love it. I was confused for a moment, but then she reminded me that he and she get a bit silly whenever he's home from university. When they were much younger, they used to video various soft toys in amazing adventures, and as a result, all the toys had names. While it's been many years since they videoed anything, they still refer to the various toys, and they all live in my daughter's bedroom. So, I asked her to go and get a few of the favourites, and took a photo. A few moments in Photoshop Elements and I had a second sentiment added.

And so the card became an easel-style card.

closed and

open!

The paper is from Papermania's Capsule collection, and the die is from Spellbinders.

Saturday, 11 February 2012

The last two of my recent 'easel card' fest!

This image is a stamp from Crafts and Me, and I stamped it in black Memento, and coloured it with Promarkers. I loved this paper with that image - it's got a very architectural feel, which seemed to me to work with that pillar the angel's sitting on! I added a panel in Coredinations card which I cut and embossed using a Spellbinders edgibility die. I sanded the embossing to bring it out. To finish, I used some sticky stars and a metal flower embellishment from my stash.

Now this card uses an image I stamped and coloured ages ago! It's stamped in Versafine ink onto watercolour paper, and I watercoloured it with Aquamarkers. I can't remember whose stamp it is. Again, the paper is from Papermania's Capsule Collection. The rose was die cut using a Spellbinders die, and the flower and butterfly embellishment is from my stash.
I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:Craft Us Crazy where anything goes,Catch the Bug where they have a photo inspiration (pink rose!)

Monday, 6 February 2012

This week at Crafty Cardmakers, our challenge is set by DT member, Beth, and she's challenging you to find some Monochrome Magic. You can use any colour you want, and add a small contrast of something else, but it has to be predominately a single colour.

We are sponsored for this challenge by

IndigoBlu are an English rubber stamp company, offering high quality, deep etched, red rubber stamps with unique designs around 'Quintessentially English' themes.
The revolutionary FlitterGlu is an IndigoBlu product - the best Glu for stamping. Works with any stamps and is water soluble. Great for using with Flake or Glitter...
They also offer a variety of unusual embellishments and wooden blanks in their online store to compliment their stamps...
Please visit at www.IndigoBlu.com

and we have a fabulous prize on offer from themPart OneIndigoBlu FlitterGlu Starter Kit

Who are offering a $10 Gift Certificate for their Store to the challenge winner

For this challenge, I got out a new Clarity stamp - Wrought-Iron tree.

I stamped it onto white card using a Versafine stamp pad, then edged the card with the same stamp using second and third impressions only. The background was stamped with the top of the same stamp, but using Versamark. I then used Perfect Pearls (in Perfect Pearl) to bring out the stamping. I matted everything together and finished with some white ribbon.

Sunday, 5 February 2012

One of the things about this time of year, is that I often go to my box of cards, only to find that there's nothing suitable there! Of course it's largely because of Christmas - but I always feel the need to make a few 'general' cards to keep things going. And, then there's the plethora of birthdays that happen in March - I need to get started on them too!

So, the image is a stamp from Animal Spirits which I stamped with brown Memento ink and coloured with Promarkers. The background papers are some you've seen before if you've been visiting this blog for a while - they're from Panda Bear and are available from Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps. (Check out my sidebar for a link.) It's a set of skies with rainbows and it's without a doubt the most useful set of background papers I've got. I altered the tone of them a little - moving them to a warmer blue to match the colours I used in the image.

This time, I used a Sarah Kay image, again stamped in brown Memento and coloured with Promarkers. I cut the image and mat with my Nesties. The ribbonned die cuts are from Spellbinders, and the paper from the Papermania Capsule collection. The flowers were made using white card coloured with Promarkers and punched.

And finally for tonight, a Ching Chou Kuik image, again stamped in Memento ink (this time black) and coloured with Promarkers. More paper from Papermania, and another die cut border courtesy of Spellbinders. I've added some gems to the die cut - those blue square gems were a magazine gift literally years ago, but they work really well with the square holes in this die cut. (I just wish I had more of them!) And again, the flowers were made using punched white card coloured with Promarkers.

This week at One Stitch at a Time, our theme is 'With Love'! Now, that's got to be a pretty easy theme since I can't imagine many cards or gifts being made without love.

Our sponsor this week is Crimson Cloud.

This week, I had an image from Stitchy Bear herself! It's called 'Lite My Fire'.

Towards the end of last year, I got myself a new laptop. And, since the copy of Photoshop Elements I'd been using had come pre-loaded on the old laptop, I had to invest in a new copy. The newer version definitely has some features the old one didn't, and one of them is a range of pre-loaded backgrounds. Here, I used one called Azure Floral. I added the png version of the digital stamp to that background, then added the glow around the candle as a gradient. I printed the result onto some Joanna Sheen Satin Elegance card. (It printed the colour image really quite well. Not quite as crisply as an actual photo paper would have, but it looked ok to me.) I coloured the digital stamp part of the image with Promarkers. I printed another piece of the background image, and matted both the main and background with a mix of Promarker Orange and Burnt Orange. I finished the card with some flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts and some sticky gem flourishes.

To finish, I made an insert using the same background image, and added a heart shape with a greeting.

I hope you can join us this week.

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:Incy Wincy where they want flowers,

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About this Blog

I'm a cardmaker who's been into crafty things most of my adult life. It used to be knitting and stitching of various varieties (tapestry, cross stitch, hardanger and blackwork) but these days it's pretty much paper-based. I'm enjoying being part of the craft community here on Blogger, and have already learned a lot from everyone. Here you'll see the results of my efforts. Comments are welcome and appreciated.